Aug 13. 2014. Mundemu ADP: Nguji Village

Today, I stopped by District council and visited Mundemu ADP with 2 Development Faciliators, Lidya and Mr.Kilimba, Denice, and Emmanuel. It took only around 1 hour to get both places; if we go to Mundemu ADP directly from Central Zone, it would only take 40 minutes. This is really good! When I was in Sierra Leone, it took 8 hours to go to Bonthe District from Freetown, and 2 additional hours should be needed to get Sherbro Island. Comparing to 10 hours traveling, this transfer was like a picnic! Getting out of Central Zone office, I enjoyed going out for a breath of fresh air.

What I felt whenever I first saw ADP was that I just went from one extreme to another; seeing cityscape to remote village within a day was a surprising experience to see the difference. Any country you go, I can say with confidence that you might have no problem to live if you would be in capital city. Certainly, there is a reason why people say “This is a capital city.” On the other side, there should be a reason why this area, Mundemu has been selected as Area Development Program, ADP. There was a long dirt road to reach there; in the vehicle, I saw community people were guiding cows and sheep, cutting and conveying trees, harvesting crops, and carrying stuff on their head.

Passing by the dirt road, Mr.Kilimba said there was a salt lake on the left side, and Denice said there was a place for making salt on the right side. Is that salt lake similar to Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City? Does salt come from the sea, the lake, or the ground? I am betraying my ignorance…

“Tumefika!” (We are there!)

After a while, we arrived In Mundemu ADP office, and staff greeted us. As expected, I could not avoid Swahili greeting with new staff.

“Karibu!”

“… … … Asante!”

Okay, I have just passed greeting exam! No more Swahili talk beyond that! The place was peaceful and quiet, so I could calm myself down, and enjoyed smooth Internet in the office. The lunch was good, weather was warm, and I could concentrate on my work.

After I came back home, I turned on the TV. There was just a few TV channels available, but I found the channel that Jacky Chen movie was on the screen. I laughed because Lidya keep calling me Jacky Chen. She said I was much alike him. That is not true! I am handsome young Charles from South Korea, but he is much older than me from Hong Kong.

“I am watching your love, Jacky Chen’s movie. Hahahahahahaha.”

“So you are watching yourself!! :-)”

Oh no… She is so persistent! Should I learn martial arts? Anyway, I am now enjoying his movie. He is a great man who knows how to sublimate his martial art into artistic funny production. Like he does, I hope to become a person who can give people laugh, joy, and happiness with pleasure.